2-time Stanley Cup champion Andrew Ladd retires after playing 16 seasons

Andrew Ladd, a veteran of 1,001 NHL games and a two-time Stanley Cup champion, announced his retirement on Sunday.

"I'll forever be grateful for how the game shaped me as a person and the people it brought into my life," he wrote.

Ladd last played in 2021-22, when he tallied seven goals and 12 points in 51 contests with the Arizona Coyotes. He failed his physical prior to last season and spent the entire campaign on long-term injured reserve.

The winger helped the Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup in 2006 during his first season in the NHL. He chipped in with two goals - including one game-winner - and five points while appearing in 17 postseason games.

Ladd would lift Lord Stanley's Mug for the second time in his career four years later, this time with the Chicago Blackhawks. He contributed six points in 19 matchups.

The 37-year-old spent the bulk of his career with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets, amassing 139 goals and 305 points in 429 games over six seasons from 2010-16. Ladd posted a career-best 62 points in 81 games in 2014-15 to help the Jets clinch their first playoff berth since their relocation to Winnipeg in 2011.

He was named captain of the Thrashers in 2010 and was subsequently the first player to don the "C" in Jets history.

Ladd signed a seven-year, $38.5-million extension with the New York Islanders in July 2016, but he was traded to the desert five years later. He played his 1,000th game on April 20th, 2022, against the Blackhawks.

Ladd totaled 256 goals and 550 points across 16 regular seasons in the NHL and added 18 points in 65 career playoff games.

Several of his former teams wished him well in retirement Sunday.

The Hurricanes selected Ladd fourth overall in 2004.